ZOO Index Reader

ZOO Index Reader examines the relevance of zoos and how they shape our gaze towards nonhuman animals, and by extension, ourselves and one another. Through a mixture of visual research and written contributions on the history of menageries, the confinement and privatization of land, zoo architecture, pets, the “naturalization” of animals, and the roles of zoos and animals in the history of cinema, this first volume asks: Do we need zoos? What does a meaningful coexistence with animals look like? Why have we decided to give a balloon to an elephant?